Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 22

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing
Number of Pages: 1036

USA > Pennsylvania > Blair County > Altoona > Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens > Part 22

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Sarah furnace in Greenfield township in 1832, built by Peter Shoenberger (the latter was demolished in the winter of 1881-2) ; Eliza- beth furnace and Mary Ann forge in Antes township about 1835 by Edward Bell. Har- ris' Pittsburg directory, for the year 1837, gave a list of the iron works in the Juniata Valley and those in the present limits of Blair county were Elizabeth furnace and Mary Ann forge, owned by Edward Bell; Antes forge, by Graham & McCamant; Tyrone forges, William Lyon & Co .; Allegheny furnace, E. Baker & Co .; Etna furnace and forge, H. S. Spang; Cove forge, Royer & Schmucker. All these were run with charcoal for fuel.

Strange as it may appear, the market for the first iron produced in the Juniata Valley was found in Pittsburg, and it was trans- ported at a great expense, first on the backs of horses and mules across the Alleghenies to Johnstown, and from there floated in flat bot- tomed boats down the Conemaugh to the Al- legheny and on that stream to its destination. Later, when the pike had been constructed, it was hauled on wagons until the canal was built. The value of a ton of iron then was several times over that of to-day.

Later iron workers were the Duncansville rolling mill, 1833-4; the Bellrough foundry at Gaysport, built in 1837-8; the Hollidaysburg furnace in Gaysport, in 1855, and Chimney Rock furnace in Hollidaysburg later in the

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same year. These two were much larger than any former furnaces built in the valley and cost about $60,000 each and used bituminous coal and coke. In 1857 the Juniata furnaces were built at Williamsburg and in 1860 the Hollidaysburg iron and nail company's roll- ing mill was erected although that name was not adopted until 1866. The McKees Gap or Rodman furnace was built in 1862. In 1855 there were thirty-two iron and steel working establishments in Blair county including the Pennsylvania railroad company foundry and the ax and pick works of J. Colclesser at Eldo- rado, but before the year 1870 the iron indus- try in Blair county, as well as the other parts of the Juniata Valley, began to languish on account of the cost of production and the fact that cheaper ore and improved methods of Pittsburg and other large iron centers had re- duced the market price below a profitable point for these manufacturers.

In 1882 there were ten furnaces in blast, in Blair county, with a total capacity of 1,000 tons of iron per week when running full time. There were also four rolling mills and two nail mills. The furnaces were Allegheny, in Logan township; Bennington, in Allegheny township; Number One furnace, in Gaysport and Number Two furnace, in Hollidaysburg; Springfield furnace, in Woodbury township; Gap furnace, in Freedom township; Rod- man furnace, in Taylor township; Franks- town, in Frankstown township; Elizabeth, in Antes township; Rebecca furnace, Hus- ton township. Of these, the Bennington, Frankstown and Numbers One and Two were owned by the Cambria iron company of Johnstown; Allegheny by S. C. Baker; Springfield by John Royer, Gap by Holli- daysburg and Gap iron works company, Rod- man by John and Peter Duncan; Elizabeth by heirs of Martin Bell and Rebecca by heirs of Edward H. Lytle. The rolling mills were, those of Altoona iron company, at Al- toona, Portage iron company at Duncansville, Hollidaysburg iron and nail company, at Hol- lidaysburg. In addition to which was a large foundry and machine shop in Gaysport.

To the rising generation the term forge as applied to iron works has but a vague mean- ing and an explanation will be necessary. The product of the iron furnace is pig iron and is in too crude a state to use without further reduction, this work is now per- formed in rolling mills, with costly ma- chinery, but the rolling mill is a compara- tively recent institution and in the earlier years the pig iron from the furnace was worked into bars in merchantable shape at forges, wherein the pig metal was heated to a pliable state and hammered into shapes, more of the dross removed, and made into bars that ordinary blacksmiths could use by being hammered with trip hammers on a large anvil. Nails were also made at these early forges by the slow process of hammering each one out singly, this was before the invention of nail cutting ma- chines and nails then cost much more than they do now; eight to twenty penny nails were quoted in 1819 at $12.50 per hundred weight at the forge.

Under this heading we find the following facts in Mr. Africa's history of the county :

Of its manufacturing industries other than iron, Hollidaysburg has but little to boast. Its iron interests, however, are im- portant, the discovery that valuable metal could be manufactured from fossil ore by us- ing coke, the establishment of the Chimney Rock and Holidaysburg furnace during the fifth decade of the century and subseqently the two extensive rolling mills, having in a great measure compensated the town for the- loss sustained by the abandonment of the Portage railroad.

Although the vicinity of Hollidaysburg was underlaid with rich fossil ore, not much value was placed upon it until about the year 1853, when Hugh McNeal, Esq., at Frankstown furnace succeeded in producing a fine quality of iron from fossil ore by the use of coke. This gratifying result led to further investigations, and it was soon as- certained that vast beds of fossil ore under- laid the earth's surface from Hollidaysburg

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to Brush mountain, as well as at many other points in the immediate vicinity.

For two or three subsequent years a con- siderable quantity of this ore was mined and besides being utilized at Frankstown was shipped to distant furnaces. It was then de- termined to establish smelting works at this point, and acting upon his convinctions that the enterprise would prove a success, Mr. James Denniston drew up an article, sub- scribed $5,000 himself, and then solicited the co-operation of others in the borough in the endeavor to obtain a capital stock of $30,000. In this he was soon successful, the other subscribers being Colonel William Jack, $2,500, McLanahan, Watson & Co., $2,500; Robert and B. M. Johnston, $5,000; David Watson, $5,000; William Jackson, $2,500; A. M. White, $5,000 and Samuel S. Blair, $2,500.

This undertaking was commenced by Mr. Denniston on the fifth day of July, 1855, and on the 27th day of August following the firm under the name of Watson, White & Co., began the construction of the Holli- daysburg furnace, in Gaysport, since known as number one. The furnace cost $60,000. It was first put into blast November 18, 1856 and originally had a capacity of 120 tons per week. Although carrying a debt of $90,000 this firm passed safely and un- scathed through the panic of 1857 and con- tinued on successfully until April 1, 1863, when it united with the Cambria Iron com- pany and assisted to form the present Blair Iron and Coal company.

In the fall of 1855 Messrs. Gardner, Os- terloh & Co. began building the Chimney Rock furnace in Hollidaysburg, later known as No. two. It was completed a few days earlier than the Hollidaysburg furnace but had less capacity. Its owners became in- volved in financial difficulties, as a conse- quence of the disastrous days of 1857, and subsequently it was transferred to A. M. Lloyd & Co. Its management continuing successful, it was again transferred to Henry Lloyd of Pittsburg, who continued

in control some two or three years, or until its sale to the Cambria Iron company.

As already mentioned, the Blair Iron and Coal company was formed in April, 1863, by uniting the interests of Denniston, Wat- son & Co., and the Cambria Iron company and thus the two furnaces came under the control of the company which owned them as long as they were in existence, i. e., the Blair Iron and Coal company. Their ca- pacity was later doubled, and for many years they produced about 450 tons of Bes- semer pig-iron per week and furnished em- ployment to 140 men. Besides the two fur- naces in Hollidaysburg and Gaysport, this company owned the Frankstown and Ben- nington furnaces and controlled Rodman furnace through J. K. McLanahan, lessee.

The Blair Iron and Coal company also leased and operated the large rolling mill in Hollidaysburg. The original mill on the same site was built by Thomas McNamara and was destroyed by fire. This mill was built by the Juniata Iron Manufacturing company, and cost about $500,000. Subse- quently it came into the possession of the Hollidaysburg and Gap Iron company. Then B. M. Johnston became its lessee, oper- ating it in connection with the Gap furnace for some five years. It then stood idle from 1875 to 1879, when the Blair Iron and Coal company leased it and managed it during the remainder of its existence. About 100 men were employed at the rolling-mill and its produce consisted of 160 tons of much- iron per week.

The Hollidaysburg Iron and Nail com- pany was controlled by the Hemphill and Johnston families. The following mill was built in 1860 by B. M. Johnston, Robert B. Johnston, John L. Hemphill and Hugh Mc- Neal, who operated under the firm name of B. M. Johnston & Co., until September, 1866, when a change was made to that of the Hollidaysburg Iron and Nail company, and the association became a corporate body according to the laws of the state. The officers elected were John S. Hemp-

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hill, president; B. M. Johnston, treasurer and general manager; John L. Hemphill, Robert B. Johnston and Hugh McNeal, di- rectors, with J. W. Bracken as clerk. Rob- ert B. Johnston died in 1868 and on the twenty-fourth of the same month Mr. Bracken was elected director to fill the va- cancy. The next change was occasioned by the death of Mr. Hemphill. He died December 10, 1869, and on the first day of January following, Mr. Bracken was ap- pointed president and J. Dysart Hemphill director. On the 3d of April, 1880, B. M. Johnston died, and October 18th of that year the following officers were elected: J. D. Hemphill, president; J. W. Bracken, treasurer and general manager; Thomas F. Johnston, secretary ; J. D. Hemphill, J. A. B. Melvin and Thomas F. Johnston, di- rectors.

The original capital stock of the firm of B. M. Johnston was $8,000 divided equally among the four partners and the original mill was termed a wire mill, its chief prod- uct being small bar iron and wire coil. The mill was enlarged from time to time and in 1865 the manufacture of nails was commenced with eighteen machines. In November, 1866, a portion of the works was destroyed by fire, but the damage was at once repaired.

A capital stock of $90,000 was later em- ployed. Bar and skelp iron were the chief products and about 100 men found employ- ment.

The works continued in operation up to about 1885, when both furnaces were blown out to be put in blast no more. After stand- ing for a number of years they were torn down and all material and machinery re- moved. Even the large dumps of cinder- the accumulations of years of activity- were taken away for filling in the new rail- road yard east of Hollidaysburg. The large rolling-mill was operated for a short time after the furnaces were dismantled, but for a number of years the fires have not been kindled in its hearths and the build-

ing and machinery are in a state of dilapida- tion.

The Bellrough foundry, located in the town of Gaysport, was established by Henry Devine and James Evans in 1837. They began operation in the following year. But as their machinery was of the most primi- tive type, their work did not prove to be very satisfactory and was discontinued. .. .

In 1846 Michael Kelly and J. C. Mc- Lanihan opened up a foundry in an old warehouse, near the site of the former, which was continued, though some changes took place in adding to the members of the firm, up to 1863. Mr. Africa says .:

"The senior members of the present firm viz .: J. King McLanihan (son of J. C.), and William Stone (a nephew of Hollidays- burg's pioneer founder and machinist, Hon. George R. McFarlane), under the name of McLanahan & Stone, then assumed control and erected new buildings on the site of the old Portage railway station, the site now occupied. Succeeding this firm was that of McLanihan, Stone & Iset. In December, 1870, the firm of McLanihan, Stone and Bayley was formed, which continued just ten years, or till December, 1880, when by the retirement of Mr. Bayley, the old and present fırın name was revived,-i. e., that of McLanihan & Stone, the members of today being J. King McLanihan, S. C. Mc- Lanihan, William Stone and A. F. Stone.

"The old warehouse in which Kelly & McLanihan began business in 1846, was fired by an incendiary in 1848 or 9, and de- stroyed. Another building was imme- diately erected on a lot now owned by the Blair Iron & Coal company for a blacksmith shop and lumber yard. This, too, was de- stroyed by fire on the 31st day of March, 1863. The premises at that time were occu- pied by McLanihan, Watson & Co., and the fire originated in the foundry while some castings were being made. McLani- han and Stone then erected new buildings upon the present site, which with enlarge- ment, made from time to time, were occu-

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pied uninterruptedly until the morning of August 18th, 1881, when for a third time the buildings of the Gaysport foundry and machine shop were destroyed by fire. However, re-building at once began, and ninety days later the works of the firm were again in complete working order. The pattern makers, though, did not cease working after the fire. The moulders re- sumed work September 15th and on the 24th of September, 1881, casting began. On the 6th day of June, 1882, twenty tons were cast in one dav.

"The buildings now occupied are most convenient and spacious and fitted with the very best machinery in use, power being supplied by a steam engine of sixty-horse power. About 3,000 tons are cast in the foundry per annum, the manufactured arti- cles being chiefly for furnace, rolling-mills, railroad, general and mining work. In fact, every, description of heavy work is done, including castings for iron furnaces, mas- sive furnace engines, etc., and sixty skilled workmen are steadily employed.

; . "The members of the firm are gentlemen of the highest social and commercial stand- ing ; : all are competent, aye, scientific me- chanics, and in the future as in the past suc- cess must attend their efforts."

- - Although twenty years have passed since the above was written, the same firm has continued the business with an ever increas- ing demand for their wares, and much of their finished products are shipped to for- eign countries.

PETER SHOENBERGER.

In the early development of the county, prior to the organization of Blair county, no one man played a more important part than Dr. Peter Shoenberger. Yet strange as it may seem, his wonderful achievements in the manufacturing of iron have never, even by his family, been recorded, except in the fragmentary evidence of work in ruins and estates inherited by heirs. It is indeed a source of regret to all who take pride in

their native country, that so little is known of one who contributed so much to its pros- perity in enterprises that were new and un- tried.

It is certainly known that his father's name was George, and that he was of Ger- man descent. He was born in Lancaster county, Pa., but the exact date is not at hand. From what are considered reliable sources, he was graduated from Jefferson medical college, Philadelphia. He practiced his profession in Pittsburg for some time, but his health failing, he was induced to locate at Juniata forges, which he after- wards purchased. This was in 1824, and he was doubtless in Pittsburg, for it is cer- tainly known that he owned and operated a rolling mill at that place. Later on he owned and operated Marietta furnace near Philadelphia. He built Upper Maria forge in 1828, Middle Maria in 1830, Lower Maria in 1832, Martha furnace and forge soon after, on the Roaring Spring stream, in McKee's Gap, and Allegheny forge, west of Duncansville. He also built Sarah fur- nace near Claysburg, Rebecca on Clover .creek, and Bloomfield at Ore Hill at or nearly the same time. He was half owner in the Cambria furnace near the Johnston and later on beame a partner in the Cani- bria Iron company.

In addition to the forges, furnaces, mills, saw mills and rolling-mill, he had land es- tates in Huntingdon, Blair and Cambria counties that aggregated not less than the enormous total of 100,000 acres. On these lands he had all the elements of his thriv- ing business. The iron was in the ore stored in the bowels of the earth. The flux to purge the dross was in the limestone boulder and the fuel was in the timber in the valley and on the mountain sides.

The ore must be mined and conveyed to the furnace. £ The rocks must be blasted loose and also put in place. The timber must be felled and the wood reduced to charcoal. To keep all these works in oper- ation required an army of men and teams.

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For it must be remembered that all this work was carried on before the building oi railroads. The only means of transporta- tion was horse and mule power. The raw material was drawn in and the finished product was conveyed to Pittsburg in the same manner. The finished product then was "blooms." The "pig iron" was taken from the furnace, put into a hot oven and heated to a point of fusion and then placed on an anvil or head block under a ponderous hammer that would strike the blow of a ton or more and forge it into a block called a bloom. It required great skill to adjust the red hot iron with tongs under the hammer to give it the desired shape and solidity. The blooms were then hauled to Pittsburg where it was drawn into bars in the rolling- mill. Mr. Shoenberger owned hundreds of horses and mules and all teams were composed of six head, and in addition to his own, quite a number of people kept teams that found employment about his works. Farmers could turn in at almost any time and secure hauling in their unoc- cupied time and many by so doing were en- abled to pay their store bills or make pay- ments on their farms. This was an im- mense advantage to men of limited means who bought land that had first to be cleared before crops could be raised.

In connection with his works he also had stores to supply his men with all the neces- saries of life. And while he had clerks and managers he was himself the general super- intendent of all his industries. He rode on horseback from place to place and gave his orders in person. To meet his expenses and pay his bills he carried his money in saddle bags. At one time when he had with him about $3,000, he met Louis, the famous rob- ber, but divining his intention, he shrewdly evaded him and escaped without the loss of a dollar.

It is difficult to appreciate or estimate the worth of the man in the formative per- iod of our county. He came to the front as a stranger. He rose to greatness by his

keen foresight and shrewd business tact. He dashed ahead into regions unexplored where others almost feared to follow, and · his undertakings were always successful. And with all the disadvantages of a new country and the slow and expensive means of transportation, he amassed a princely for- tune. No one individual in his day, or perhaps since, contributed so much to the wealth and prosperity of the county as he, not only in what he accomplished, but in what he made it possible for others to ac- complish. He was the most successful iron- master in the state of Pennsylvania, and one among the most successful in the United States. He died in the city of Phila- delphia in 1854 and is buried in Laurel Hill cemetery.

He left to survive him three sons and a number of daughters. It was after the lat- ter that his furnaces and forges were named. His large estate was divided among his children by will and was settled up by Michael Berry, a trusted clerk in his em- ploy. The heirs who received their inherit- ance proceeded to operate furnaces and forges, but did not seem to meet with the same success as their distinguished father, and now, after the lapse of half a century, with the changing vicissitudes of time, all the places of his activities in Blair county have ceased to exist, and a goodly portion of his land estate has gone into the hands of strangers. Peter Duncan, of Hollidays- burg, his grandson, still retains valuable holdings of the Shoenberger estate, includ- ing the iron deposits at Ore hill.

Rodman furnace was built on the site of Middle Maria forge in 1862, by Ricketson, Knapp & Co., to be operated by charcoal in order to have a superior iron for the con- struction of the Rodman guns then used in the civil war. After a few years it ceased operations and was then leased by Charles Knapp & Co., who in 1871-72 repaired the old and erected a new furnace by its side, which, with the grading and opening of the mines entailed an expenditure of $350,000.

ROARING SPRING BLANK BOOK CO.'S PLANT, ROARING SPRING

HORSESHOE CURVE, PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD

DEEP FILL CURVE ON THE TYRONE & CLEARFIELD RAILROAD

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The panic of 1873 stopped all operations. After standing for some years they were leased to Webster & Halden, who operated them for several years.

They were then leased to J. King McLani- han for the Blair Iron & Coal company. They again stopped in 1885, and were soon afterwards dismantled and great piles of cinder alone mark the site. The property is owned by Peter Duncan of Hollidaysburg.

Following is a list of the various iron manufacturies formerly in operation in the county, with their capacity :

Tons Weekly

Rodman No. I. 300

Rodman No. 2. I 50

Maryha (McKee's gap) 140

Hollidaysburg No. I.

Hollidaysburg No. 2 265

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Frankstown I30

Bennington I 50

Williamsburg 50

Springfield, Etna, Rebecca and Sarah were all small, and were operated with char- coal.

The Hollidaysburg, Juniata rolling-mill, 170 tons of bar iron and 1,200 to 1,500 kegs of nails weekly.

Hollidaysburg Iron & Nail company, ca- pacity not known.

Frankstown furnace, Antis forge, Mary Ann forge and Cove forge.

In addition to these there were Allgheny forge, Cove forge, Franklin forge, Tyrone forge, the Altoona Iron company, Alle- gheny furnace, Bloomfield furnace, Eliza- beth furnace, Blair furnace and the Dun- cansville iron works and nail factory, de- scribed in connection with their respective towns. With the exception of the Altoona Iron company plant, all of these have ceased to exist.

The Bloomfield mines are among the richest deposits of iron ore in the United States. This is true both as to quantity and quality. After a long and complete series of tests the metal made from this ore was chosen by Cap- tain Rodman for use in making the heavy or-

dinance for the United States government ; and he strongly urged that the government should purchase the whole Bloomfield ore de- posits and thus secure a permanent supply of this valuable ore. The mine is three miles south of Roaring Spring. It formerly be- longed to Dr. Shoenberger, and is now the property of the Duncan heirs. In the days of Shoenberger's operations this mine was ex- tensively worked. It supplied the ore for Bloomfield, Sarah, Martha and later on the Rodman furnaces.

After the dismantling of the furnaces above named Peter Duncan commenced to mine and ship ore July 1, 1888, giving employment to from sixty to 100 men. The low price of the ore, the high freight rates and the un- adaptability of the ore for steel making have made the business unprofitable, and for a num- ber of years very little has been shipped. Some time in the future when supplies in other parts of the country become exhausted the mine will be opened again.

In 1903 Mr. Duncan constructed a tram road from the Morrison's Cove branch rail- road to the top of the mountain below Mc- Kee's Gap, in Blair township and began quarrying and shipping ganister rock. The shipment was from eight to ten car loads per day, giving employment to about thirty-five men. The panic of 1907 stopped operations, but work was resumed in 1909. The deposit is a large one and the industry promises to be a flourishing one for many years. It is de- scribed more fully elsewhere in this chapter.

LIMESTONE QUARRIES AT TYRONE FORGES.

These quarries were first opened and ope- rated by A. G. Morris in 1870. At one time there were operated four crushers which turned out fifty cars of ballast stone a day. Another section of the quarry produced seventy-five cars daily for use in furnaces. This rock was of a superior grade both for chemical as well as for mechanical purposes, and orders were re- ceived from different parts of the country. In its palmiest days 300 men were given employ- ment by this industry.

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KEYSTONE LIME AND STONE COMPANY.

The quarries of this company are located along the Tyrone and Lewistown railroad near Tyrone and near Shoenberger and Union Fur- nace, along the main line of the Pennsylvania railroad. They extend for a distance of one and one-half miles and are equipped with all modern improvements for the preparation of limestone for its various commercial uses. They have seven kilns for burning lime and a mill for grinding both lime and the rock for fertilizing purposes. Their quarries rank among the largest in central Pennsylvania and have a shipping capacity of 150 cars of stone per day, and 2,500 bushels of lime. The lime is shipped to all parts of the country. It is especially in demand in New York and the eastern states, where only the highest grade is used. The raw product is used for fluxing furnaces, manufacturing glass, railroad ballast and building purposes. This business is con- ducted by A. A. Stevens, Esq., of Tyrone. "

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Twentieth century history of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and representative citizens, Part 22

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872- Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing Number of Pages: 1036

Author: Sell, Jesse C 1872-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, Richmond-Arnold Publishing
Number of Pages: 1036